• by Wayne Friedman , June 7, 2010

Good news if you are a TV network with a major sports property this June: Your ratings are up.

ABC's "NBA Finals" featuring the Los Angeles Lakers-Boston Celtics continues its improving ways versus a year ago. It rose in game two on Sunday night to a Nielsen preliminary 5.0 rating/13 share among 18-49 viewers, some 10% higher than game two of a year ago.

NBC's "NHL Stanley Cup Finals" -- in a rare head-to-head, broadcast network-to-broadcast network meeting against the NBA -- tallied a 2.7 rating/7 share. While NHL has virtually always played second fiddle to NBA's strong viewership, the hockey championship grew almost 40% in ratings in game five from the year before.

This year, the NHL featured older, and more storied, franchises: the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers.

With earlier-evening programs "Jimmy Kimmel Game Live" taking in a 2.6/9 and "NBA Countdown" a 3.4/11, ABC had no problem easily winning Sunday night with an average 4.5/13. That's more than twice the 18-49 ratings of its nearest competitor, NBC.

All other networks were in repeats for most of the night. But those bravely walking into the storm did so early in the evening before the big games got rolling: CBS' "60 Minutes" earned a 1.4/5; NBC's "Dateline NBC" took a 1.2/5; NBC's "Making of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter" scored a 0.7/3 and Fox's comedies "Til Death earned a 0.7/3 and "Sons of Tucson" a 0.7/2.